Matt Hobby was a Pope
High School student. He loved football, especially
PopeFootball.Matt was a lineman known forhis passionand determination on and off the field.Unfortunately, he would need this strong and courageous spirit to
face the battle of his life, an aggressive form of childhood cancer, Ewing
Sarcoma.

Matt’s teammates encouraged him to
“STANDTOUGH” while he endured
many incredibly difficult forms of treatment. As the Pope High School community surrounded Matt and his family, we
all became painfully aware that his and many other forms of childhood cancer
are not wellresearched.In fact, it had been many years since Matt’s form of cancer had been
considered for meaningful research funding.

Contrary to common knowledge, the majority of cancer
research funds focus on adultcancers:
Colon, Breast and Lung. Children do
not typically get these cancers. Childhood cancers are most often:
Blood, Bone and Brain cancers.
Consequently, the treatments available for children are not founded on
research that focuses on the needs of children. The available treatments
often cause extensive damage to a child’s lungs, heart and other vital
organs. However, with new knowledge
and technology there is great hope for discovering better treatments and
even cures for many forms of childhood cancers.Funding is all that is lacking!

Despite his courageous fight, Matt
lost his battle with cancer just a few days after high school graduation,
May 30, 2006.During his last days, Matt told his parents “I have lived 17 years and
been able to do a lot of great things, but the little kids with cancer need
a chance to live. Tell them (his teammates and friends) to raise money for
research.”

Pope mom, Dean Crowe,
was already in the process of starting a childhood cancer research
foundation when she first heardabout Matt’s situation. So,Matt, his parents and the Pope High
Football families partnered with Mrs. Crowe and the fundraising campaign
known as 4Quarters4Research was launched here at Pope High school.
During the four quarters of a home football game fans were asked to place
“quarters” in the buckets as they were passed through the stadium. These
funds were donated to help researchers find better treatments for childhood
cancer.Other schools heard
about Pope’s 4Quarters 4Research
and organized their own 4Q4R events.
In the last 7 years, 300+ schools and organizations in 10 states have held
their own 4Quarters4Research events funding hundreds of thousands of dollars
in research.It all began right
here at Pope High School!

After launching
4Quarters4Research, Rally Foundation
was formed and added many new fundraising events. To date,
Rally hasfunded over 3 million dollars in
research supporting 50+ research projects around the country!
Professional athletes like Braves player Brian McCann and Atlanta Falcons
player Corey Peters as well as Senators, Governors and many others are
taking note of Pope High School and the special group of parents and
teammates that are a part of this incredible tradition of caring.
Matt wanted to provide a legacy of hope and you, his teammates and friends,
are at the forefront of that mission.So, take the lead, educate your peers about childhood cancer and
encourage everyone to donate on October 10th!

To honor Matt’s wishes Pope High School has contributed
more than $130,000 in research dollars to support Rally Foundation in the
last 7 years!Let’s keep this
tradition alive by offering hope to many who are still battling!
See you October 10th!